Replacing TikTok and Reels with being "Bored"

    Cold-turkey quitting an addiction is not always gonna work for everyone. It worked for me with TikTok because I went on a months long trip where I had no data, allowing my algorithm forgot what made me Laugh out Loud. Admittedly, reels filled the void that TikTok had left. As I have been told by close confidants, it is not this easy for everyone to quit, and some apps make it easier than others. To help with your journey to liberation I am compiling a list of resources to replace that streaming addiction. 

Now that you have recognized the problem, it will be easier to recognize that little impulse you get when you want to redownload and just quickly look something up on TikTok. First: log out of your account and delete the app. These small steps slow down the impulse enough to let your brain do a double-take, like "Why was I wanting to go on TikTok again? Oh yeah! Because I automatically open the app when my hands aren't busy". ZON'T ZO IT! When that little tick happens, reroute that thought with a deep breath and do one of the following activities instead:

    - Open the Goodreads app and see which book you should read next

    - Open up a book or a reading app and read a chapter

    - Scroll through Bandsintown or whatever concert app you use to find local events you can go to with friends

    - Go to YouTube and watch ONE video (trying to get better at this myself)

            - My favorite topics right now are video essays about bullying entitled influencers and the problems with AI. I highly recommend the channel "More Perfect Union" for relatively unbiased and informative current events.

    - Open Spotify and start listening to your discover weekly intently with no other distractions

    - Sit in silence for 10 minutes and see which cool thoughts your brain can come up with

            - This will inevitably lead to a creative idea, no matter what you do, so start cooking it up

    - Start a blog and use it as a journal or "how to" for your favorite hobby

    - Start a YouTube channel and get into editing videos

    - Listen to a podcast intently or while crocheting, something along those likes

    - What's a hobby you've always wanted to try? Do it!

            - For me I think this would be knitting or guitar. 

    - Buy a magazine and start circling things and treating it as online shopping, but keep it aspirational and do not make rash purchases, just cut them out and add them to a mood board. 

    - Use said magazine to start making collages and mood boards

    - Make a mood board on Pinterest 

    - Find fun crafts to do on Pinterest

    - Buy yourself a camera to get into videography or photography, without having to post and share everything you produce

    - Make a playlist on Spotify with a fun theme

            - You can use an upcoming holiday or vacation as inspiration

    - Burn a CD and make a mixtape from said playlist

Just because you are deleting the most addicting social media accounts, doesn't mean you have to swear off the internet or technology all together. I am trying to use more analog technology to become authentically performative: i.e. digi cam, ipod, wired headphones, burning CD's. Also I am using less stimulating websites, like Goodreads, Blogger, and Pinterest. For more websites to remind yourself that the internet is actually cool, refer to the brochure on this blogpost. Of course, everything can become toxic if you overconsume. However, Instagram, TikTok, and the like are made to be addicting and can't be trusted. It is like testing your willpower against heroin. 

Social media started as a means to connect with people, but it has become a far-cry from that. We are only using it because of a chemical reliance in our brains. You don't have to fill every silent moment with media, your life does not have to be documented to be important, the art you create does not have to be shared and thumbs upped to be beautiful! Gen-z has a serious problem of living vicariously through their own feeds, but that stops right neow!